Cover For Me
by WhatHaveWeDone
Summary: I've remembered why I wrote this: when Gordon took Thunderbird 1 to help Parker, I thought there must be lots of occasions when the family call up to 5. Because everyone must be calling in favours all the time...


"Cover for me" they said.

Scott wanted twelve hours down time. To be more specific twelve hours on the mainland. Twelve hours _private _time on the mainland. No contact. Not tracking. Completely private.

"You mean unless we have a call, right?" John asked, eyebrow raised.

"I'm sure you guys can handle anything that comes up" Scott was already firing up the small twin engine light aircraft they kept for any civilian flights they needed to take.

"And if we can't? If we need you? What do you expect me to say?" John asked, one eye on his displays and already deciding on which contingency they were going to use being one man down.

Scott continued his start up procedures. "I don't know, you'll think of something. Just cover for me."

* * *

"_Shit. _John!"

"Language Alan. And what is it?" John's alarmed holographic form appeared in mid air.

"Well, I know I'm not meant to. But it was just once. And only because they were really dirty and..." the younger stuttered.

"Alan," John gave a hefty sigh "Did you put your trainers in the washing machine again?"

"Yeah," Alan said sheepishly, pacing the room ,"and now I think it's broken. It won't spin."

"How many times is this now?" John relaxed slightly on the realisation this wasn't an actual emergency.

"I know, I _know_. Scott's going to go spare."

Another sigh and John crossed his arms. "And I suppose you want me to cover for you."

"Please? I'll be grounded for months." Alan wheedled.

"Fine. 'Oh look. The washing machine has spontaneously broken again. Maybe you should let me look at the programming' But you owe me."

* * *

"John, can you to access the central control systems?" Kayo whispered into her comms, crouching behind a low wall, watching the guards patrol.

"I'm almost insulted you have to ask." He spoke softly, in her ear only for the bright light of his hologram would draw unwarranted attention.

"Don't be pedantic," Kayo hissed, "you know what I meant. How long will it take?"

"About three minutes, what do you want me to do when I'm in?"

"Just do something creative on the south side so I have a bit of a distraction."

"Don't worry, you'll have all the cover you need."

* * *

Brains and John swapped files all the time – upgrades for Five, mission telemetry for analysis, coding for review. At times like these it was flagged as urgent, and for privacy written in binary.

_Priority request. Urgent assistance needed. It's scones this time and I don't have the teeth for them. I need to dispose of them but she wants to chat. Can you cover for me?_

John sent back a smiley.

"Grandma!" John's image appeared in Brains' lab. "I've been looking everywhere for you. Ridley was asking me about apple pie and I couldn't remember what you added to yours."

His hologram moved round, and Grandma followed it, so that now she had her back to Brains who – with a grateful look – hid the rock hard scones amongst a pile of paperwork.

"Well, most people add cinnamon, but I always put in a healthy dash of... "

* * *

Gordon was making himself conspicuously absent from the most well trodden parts of the house, hiding out in the second movie room, waiting until the worst of the storm to blow over.

It wasn't as if he had meant to contaminate _all _of the coffee on the island – he liked it to after all – so it had been a vital flaw to put the chilli in the coffee grinder rather than a small amount in one of the cups. Scott was having to dismantle the entire machine to clean it properly. Gordon hoped that he would be working out his anger doing so, but was keeping out of the way just to be safe.

"I know you know where I am John." Gordon said to the emptiness, "Just let him cool down a bit before you point him in my direction? Cover for me, just for a little bit?"

"How long do you expect me to hold him off for?" John's ghostly figure said from the cinema screen, suddenly dominating the room.

"Only long enough for him not to want to skin me alive." John rolled his eyes and blinked out, leaving Gordon to sweat about if that was agreement or not.

* * *

Virgil woke up to sun streaming though his window. Woke up _because _of the sunlight streaming through his window, where he had failed to close the curtains the night before. He had failed to get undressed as well. He was lucky that he had made it to bed and his head was collecting on the IOU that he had written last night.

Squinting against the assault of daylight he reached for the clock, and started upright when he puzzled out the time.

"Holy crap. Ow ow ow ow." He clutched his head. The whiskey had been good, but surely not worth _this. _

"Morning!" John boomed at him. "Good night?"

"Good night, terrible morning." Virgil muttered, pulling a pillow over his face. "And I'm meant to be down in the bay for manoeuvres in five minutes."

"That's what you get for drinking on a school night Virgil, I did warn you." Oh gods, how could he sound so _chirpy. _

"So you did. Look, I need a coffee and a shower. And another coffee. Can you cover for me for say... thirty minutes?"

"Cover for you? You are literally upstairs, what do you expect me to say?"

"I don't know. If you knew I was going to wake up with a jackhammer in my head you must have also know I'd ask you for help."

Virgil couldn't see John's smile, but he certainly heard it in his reply. "Don't worry, I've gotcha."

* * *

"Do you think they realise they all do it?" EOS asked from over John's shoulder.

"Nope" he said, adding yet another tally to the list of favours he was owed.

* * *

It had been the longest three days John can remember, mainly because he had been awake for all of it. In that time he had dispatched the others for a landslide, a fire, a building collapse, an overloading power station, another fire and a sinking pleasure yacht. He had also been out himself to realign a malfunctioning satellite and set EOS to recompiling after a save error.

His eyes were scratchy and dry, but blurry as if tearing up so that he could barely see the controls. 'Headache' was too small a word for the pounding that reverberated through his skull with each heartbeat, and surged if he moved to quickly. The thought of another cup of coffee made him feel sick. The thought of any drink made him feel sick though his throat was parched. His balance was off, and he had to lean against Five's walls as he made his slow way to the space elevator. It took three attempts to call up the correct protocols to lower it: he should have clocked off a long time ago but the emergency channels couldn't go unmonitored.

The found him sitting on the floor by the landing pad, propped up where he had stumbled and fallen, pale and shaking. Virgil was gripping his wrist tightly, taking a pulse while Scott got right in his face, eyes full of concern.

"Cover for me." he whispered as he slipped under.


End file.
